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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. mine — for digging
  6. present — there
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. present — the time now
  9. kid — child
  10. staff — employees
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wind — moving air
  15. deal — to handle
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. present — a gift
  18. staff — a stick
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. sharp — clever
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. staff — employees

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com